This section describes the installation and operation of the SquareOne OS Management application. As described in Local OS Image Management, this application is run from within Windows.
Setup
The SquareOne OS Management application does not require installation, it can be run in Windows directly from a hard drive or USB stick by executing SquareOne OS Management.exe.
When run, it will display the following menu:
The OS Image Management features of the SquareOne OS Management application described below rely on the SquareOne OS Recovery application being present in a recovery partition. If this is not detected, the menu will indicate this and provide the option to create it, as follows:
Choosing Manage Partitions and then Create Partition will create a recovery partition with SquareOne OS Recovery pre-installed:
The partition size can be adjusted from the suggested default as required. In deciding on a suitable partition size, you should consider:
- The number of OS images likely to be stored. It may be useful to store a factory reset image as well as one (or potentially several) recent backup images. The recovery partition will need to be big enough to hold all these captured .WIM files.
- The amount of available disk space. A larger storage drive provides freedom to create a larger recovery partition. A recovery partition holding a single .WIM image is possible on a 32Gb drive if care is taken to keep the Windows image small, and application and data storage requirements are not too large.
Note that it is also possible to delete the recovery partition by selecting Delete Partition from the previous menu. This is useful if the partition is no longer required, or if it needs to be re-created (e.g. to be resized).
OS Image Management
Choosing the OS Image Management option from the main menu, the following screen is shown:
This screen provides access to the operations described in the following sections.
Backup
To backup the current OS image as an image in the recovery partition, choose Create Backup. Choose a suitable name for the image, and then click OK.
The device will reboot into the SquareOne OS Recovery application and the image will be captured into the recovery partition. Once complete, the device will reboot back to the existing OS.
The newly stored image should be present in the list of available operating systems within the SquareOne OS Management application.
Restore
To restore a previously stored OS image, click the Restore button next to the required image.
The device will reboot into the SquareOne OS Recovery application and the image will be applied. Once complete, the restored operating system will be booted.
Warning: the Restore operation will wipe ALL files from the main system drive, replacing them with the selected image.
Deploy
To deploy a previously captured OS image (specifically, one that is not already in the Current OS Images list), choose Store OS Image to copy this image to the recovery partition to allow it to be selected for Restore.
Once completed, the newly stored OS will be present in the list of current OS images.
To immediately apply the new OS, click the Restore button next to the newly stored image. The device will reboot into the SquareOne OS Recovery application and the image will be applied. Once complete, the new operating system will be booted.
Warning: the Restore operation will wipe ALL files from the main system drive, replacing them with the selected image.
Delete
It is possible to delete stored OS images, e.g., if they are no longer required or to free up space. To delete a stored OS image, click the Delete button next to the required image.
Recovery Partition
Choosing Recovery Partition option from the menu reboots the device into the SquareOne OS Recovery application, described in section 3. This can be useful to drive some of the functionality manually (e.g. performing an OS image capture to a USB storage device, as described in section 3.3.1).
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I delete the recovery partition?
Choose Manage Partitions from the main menu, and then select Delete Partition.
How do I resize the recovery partition?
It is not possible to dynamically adjust the size of the recovery partition after creation. Instead, delete the partition (as described above), and recreate it at the new desired size using SquareOne OS Management or SquareOne OS Recovery. If existing images must be kept, these should be relocated first and then re-stored to the new recovery partition.
When should I use the SquareOne Recovery application over the Square OS Management application?
The choice of tool will depend on the context and the system that is in place, but in general, the SquareOne OS Management application is recommended unless:
- An existing Windows installation is not present
- The use of a recovery partition is not practical/possible
What’s the recommended way to start with a ‘blank’ system?
From a blank system, the recommended steps are:
- Create a bootable SquareOne OS Recovery USB stick (see SquareOne OS Recovery USB Stick)
- Use this to capture an image from an existing system that is correctly configured (see Remote OS Image Management - Preparation/Capture)
- Use the same USB stick (or others, created as described in SquareOne OS Recovery USB Stick) to deploy the captured image to empty devices (i.e. those without existing an Windows installation). Choose Deploy (with recovery) from the SquareOne OS Recovery Tool to ensure the recovery partition is created.
- From within Windows, use the SquareOne OS Management tool to further manage OS operations as required: backing up, restoring, and/or upgrading.
Something went wrong during an operation – how do I find out more?
As some operations remove/replace the operating system, it is not always easy to identify when things have succeeded or failed. Look for the following files:
- AGENT_<date>-<time>.txt : Log file in the same directory as the OS Management Tool
If the files do not give sufficient information, contact Bsquare for support.